ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly describes human factors engineering and considerations for civil aircraft flight deck design. It avoids vulnerabilities in the introduction of new technology and concepts through the appropriate application of human factors engineering in the design of flight decks. The chapter introduces the fundamentals of human factors engineering, and then discusses the flight deck design process. The first of the components that requires matching to the characteristics of the human is Hardware. This interface is the one most generally thought of when considering human–machine systems. The second interface with which human factors engineering is concerned is that between Liveware and Software. This encompasses the nonphysical aspects of the systems such as procedures, manual and checklist layout, symbology, and computer programs. Human factors engineering is only one of the disciplines that should be part of the process, but it is a key part of ensuring that the flight crew’s capabilities and limitations are considered.
